Author : Muralidhar Panchariya, Pradeep Jain, R.k Purohit [ Volume No.:XI, Issue No.VI-Nov 2022] [Page No : 30-34] [2022]

:- The discovery of X-rays by Roentgen in 1895 and radioactivity by Becquerel in 1896 can be considered the turning point in human health care as the X-rays allowed to peep inside the human body (Roentgen, 1895). Although harmful effects of ionising radiations were reported within a few months of discovering X-rays, the real magnitude was unknown. The study of occupational workers like physicians and scientists handling radioactivity gave a clear picture of the harmful effects of ionising radiation, which was further strengthened after studying Japanese atomic bomb survivors of 1945. It is now reasonably well established that radiation produces deleterious effects on organisms, and widespread use of radiation in diagnosis therapy, industry, and energy sector and inadvertent exposure during air and space travel, nuclear accidents, and nuclear terror attacks requires safeguarding against human exposures. Lead shielding and other physical measures are cumbersome to use in such situations. Therefore pharmacological intervention could be the most prudent strategy to protect humans against the harmful effect of ionising radiation. The hazards to public health arising from radiation produced by man concern, to a large degree, those low doses and low dose rates relate to carcinogenesis or leukemogenesis, developmental abnormalities and the production of genetic mutations in the gonads, which are passed on to the offspring. In the present time, of course, medical x-rays, both diagnostic and therapeutic, represent the largest manufactured source of radiation exposure to the general population.